Rey is amazingly talented! I came to him with a vision for my wedding dress in 2018 and he made it all happen in the shortest amount of time with the best price of the 5+ places I researched/got quotes. See full description and photos below:
We were on a budget and doing something outdoors/less formal, so I bought a dress online that was too big (wedding dress sizes are weird, so I'd say this was at least 2-3 sizes up; I was a 2 and this fit more like a 6 or 8 - I could pull it up and down without undoing the zipper). It was a chiffon-like material as the top layer that was pleated over a corset boning that angled down to a low back and intricate beading sewn in like a belt across the middle. By taking it in that much, a straight angle from the chest to the low back had to be recreated, boning in between the fabrics taken out, and beaded belt pattern adjusted very carefully. On top of that, I asked Rey to cut off the train and create sleeves (it was strapless originally) and put in cups/breast support so I wouldn't have to wear a bra/bustier underneath. Not easy tasks! Rey quickly sketched out exactly what I was asking, so I know he got my vision. I showed him some Pinterest photos as well just in case and he said it would take just a few weeks and cost under $200 (the corset padding/support bumped the cost up a bit from what he originally mentioned before the first fitting, but only by like $20-30 and was totally worth it). I tried it on for him to pin it how he needed, and he said I could come back in 1-2 weeks for a fitting/finishing touches.
The second appointment had pros and cons. The dress fit perfectly but the line from the top to the back wasn't straight (I think it just wasn't finished) and I wanted it a little lower in the back. He didn't cut off the full train like I asked because he didn't want me to regret it; instead he shortened it to be just a slight drag -- it was very pretty (and thoughtful - I'm sure he's had experience where he's done what was asked and then couldn't undo it if someone changed their mind), but I was adamant that I didn't want to drag in the dirt for the outside ceremony or bother bustling it for dancing. The sleeves he had pleated to match the design on the bodice, but it wasn't like the original design we had discussed, so we went back to his original sketch to clarify. The last part with that the support pad he sewed into the corset were huge and directly on top of my breasts as opposed to underneath and from the sides to help push up/support. I think this is a more common way to do it with Quinceañera dresses (especially for girls who maybe haven't developed yet). This piece was the only alteration where Rey brought in an assistant to help interpret -- I understood Rey's English perfectly fine and he seemed to understand me (I didn't speak much Spanish at the time), but I think he wanted to be positive nothing was lost in translation.
The third appointment 2-3 weeks later (only a little longer because Rey had a vacation planned) was sheer joy to see my vision come to be fully realized! All the changes had been made to exactly how we discussed. The only small edit was the wide and placement in the back of the new sleeves he created from the train that he cut off. I picked up a few days later as we were right at the wedding date and everything fit perfectly (note: I found out I was pregnant just before this last appointment, so if it looks a little tight in the photos it's because I was 10 weeks and had started gaining weight). The only issue was that it had a few wrinkles (I think this was just because of the short timeline he didn't get to it), so I took it to the dry cleaners on Centre St. since the wedding was the next day.
There are pros and cons to every experience, especially when there's so much riding on such an important event, so I can't say I wasn't anxious/nervous at times, but I trusted in Rey and he delivered just the most amazing bespoke dress I could have imagined! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! read more